Mine
by Bandearg Rois
Summary: The evolution of Jemima Tiberius Kirk and Leonard McCoy, future poster-couple of the Federation. features girl!Kirk and non-explicit interactions between adults in a stressful environment. Rated M for non-graphic descriptions and for language.
1. Waiting Tables

Loosely based on the song Mine by Taylor Swift, not a song-fic. Girl!Kirk… which is something I've never done, but I'm gonna try, because I'm curious to see if I can. Let's do this!

Oh, by the way, Taylor's song is hers, and ST: XI belongs to whoever it belongs to… and J.J. Abrams.

And I know, I know, Prodigal Father still isn't updated, and here I am putting out yet another Star Trek story, but the movie was recently bought by the family on DVD and I stole it for this and other ideas. The other ideas will wait, however, because I can't do more than 3 in-progress stories actively.

Summary: The slow evolution of Jemima Kirk and Leonard McCoy, poster couple of the Federation.

Chapter 1: Waiting Tables

Jemima "Jim" Tiberius Kirk was a rebel. It was almost written into her DNA, what with her mother being who she was, let alone her father. So it was no surprise that when she hit on a random cadet at that bar in Riverside, the only thing she came away with was the answer to a dare.

Christopher Pike was a shrewd negotiator, reading her like a book, and she couldn't resist. She spent the night before the shuttle trip driving around Iowa, as far as she could and still make it back in time. She ended up at her childhood home, abandoned after her mother's last trip to space, when she had emancipated herself and moved into a flop house. The house was in pretty good repair for being uninhabited, and she found herself making her way into her old room, which had never been a haven, even when Frank was at his worst.

She wasn't sure why her time in that room steeled her resolve, except that it brought back Pike's words. _'So your dad dies. You can settle for a less-than-ordinary life. Or do you feel like you were made for something better?'_

She had always wished, when she was little, that someone would carry her away, away from the life that had been forced upon her. But that had all changed after living with her aunt, in a place that didn't even exist anymore, except in the memories of 9 people, 7 of them children at the time. But looking at this room brought those dreams and wishes back.

So she pulled up to the Shipyard and gave the random worker her bike, the one thing that had been her constant in a constantly shifting world.

"Four years? I'll do it in three."And that was the start of a very interesting tenure at Starfleet Academy. She saw the cadet again, and got a very satisfying smile out of her, which was progress. She also met her lifeline, though she didn't know it at the time. Leonard Horatio McCoy, country doctor turned Starfleet recruit by an ugly divorce, and an aviophobe to boot. He was amusing, was her first impression.

Over the next three years, that impression was reinforced and expanded upon. He was the one she went to after a fight, the one she went to after a breakup. He was the older brother she never had. Her real big brother, George "Sam" Kirk, had cut out on the family when she was only 9, prompting her to drive her step-father's antique convertible over the quarry cliffs, nearly killing herself.

Bones was her constant, and she never consciously said anything, but he had to know how she felt. Especially after the Kobyashi-Maru, at least the first 2 times. The third time, she knew he was a little iffy, but compromising her new-found morals slightly to pass a test had never bothered her before, and a judicious makeout session with Gaila, the Orion Computer Technician, was hardly a compromise. The tribunal 2 days later, though, was a true test of their friendship. She was up for charges, and they were irrefutable, but she could get out of it if she proved that the test she had cheated was already compromised.

The problem with that was the test's designer, the only Half-Vulcan in the Universe, and the only Vulcan in Starfleet. He punched holes in her admittedly skewed logic, but also punched holes in her. She was a strong person; having an absentee mother and an abusive step-father, let alone the horrors of her early teenage years, had ensured that. But for some reason, his calm, cool words about her father's sacrifice made her want to launch across the hall and scratch his eyes out with her non-existent nails. The distress signal from Vulcan was the only thing that saved him, and her, from a very messy situation.

Unfortunately, it created another sticky situation. She wasn't allowed to go, due to being on Academic suspension. The suspension wasn't anything new; she managed to land on the list at least once a semester, but the fact that this would be the first real mission she could have and she wasn't allowed to go threw a rift up between her and Bones, one that seemed insurmountable when she hugged him quickly and told him to be safe, before standing around like an idiot in the middle of a busy hangar. That rift swiftly disappeared when he came back for her, dragging her into a medical-supply room.

"You call this a favor?" was her only comment as her brain leaked out of her ears and she was dragged to one of the last shuttles leaving for the _Enterprise_. She flirted with everyone, as was her habit, even whilst being dragged, half-conscious, into her least favorite place, a Medical Bay. She complained bitterly before being sedated, and her last conscious thought was that she was glad she wasn't in that ridiculous cadet uniform, but had been given pants and a shirt, which fit surprisingly well.

Just her luck, that when she woke from her sedation, not only did she have the honor of being the only one to understand what was really going on, she had hands the size of cantaloupes, or grapefruits if you wanted to be generous. After the mad dash through the ship to locate Uhura, her favorite communications cadet, she led both Uhura and Bones on a wild chase to the bridge, where everything fell apart, once again.

"Kirk, how the hell did you get on board this ship?" Pike asked, livid in his misunderstanding.

"Captain, this woman's suffering from a sever allergic-"

"Bones, Bones, BONES!" she screamed, talking over her friend. She knew what he was trying to do, but he didn't know what _she_ was trying to do. "Vulcan's not experiencing a natural disaster, it's being attacked by Romulans!"

"Romulans? Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough for one day. Doctor McCoy take her back to SickBay, we'll be having words later."

She pulled away when Bones tried to drag her backwards. "Look, sir, that same anomaly we saw today…" She was interrupted by Spock, who was once again, only trying to do his job, but making hers harder. She argued with him until he said she was just disrupting the bridge. "This cadet is trying to save the bridge!"

"By recommending a full-stop mid-warp during a rescue mission?" She turned back to Pike.

"It's not a rescue-mission. Listen to me, it's an attack."

"Based on what facts?" Spock said, and she detected the edge of true anger in his tone, which she would have to watch for. From what little she knew of his father-race, he could snap her in half like a toothpick.

"That same anomaly we saw today, a lightning storm in space, also occurred on the day of my birth, before a Romulan ship attacked the _USS Kelvin_. You know that, sir, I read your dissertation." She was looking from Spock to Pike, to make sure both of them were listening, and was distantly pleased that she had their full attention. "That ship, which had formidable and advanced weaponry, was never seen or heard from again. The _Kelvin_ attack took place on the edge of Klingon space, and at 2300 hours, last night, there was an attack. 47 Klingon warbirds, destroyed by Romulans, sir, it was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."

"And you know of this Klingon attack, how?" Pike asked, obviously suspicious. She turned to Uhura; it was time to see if the woman would stand up for her own findings, or leave her in the lurch. Everyone turned to her, and she looked nervous for a moment before she straightened her spine and spoke.

"Sir, I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate."

"We're warping into a trap, sir. The Romulans are waiting for us, I promise you that," Jim added, hoping that with this evidence, she would finally be heard. Uhura was one of the best at the Academy, so her words should carry some weight. Pike looked to Spock, who looked pensive for a moment before responding to the unspoken question.

"The cadet's logic is sound. And Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in xenolinguistics. We would be wise to accept her conclusion." Jim almost breathed a sigh of relief, but the crisis was only beginning, and anyone with half a brain could see as much.

"Scan Vulcan space. Check for any transmissions in Romulan," Pike ordered the bridge communications officer.

"Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan," the man replied, looking honestly baffled. She felt sorry for him for a split-second, because he couldn't help it that he wasn't trained correctly.

"What about you, do you speak Romulan, Cadet…"

"Uhura, sir. All 3 dialects."

"Uhura. Relieve the Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir." Inside, Kirk was cheering. She genuinely liked the girl, even if most of their interaction involved rebuffed flirting and rolled eyes.

"Hannity, hail the _USS Truman_," Pike ordered, looking to another Communications person.

"All the other ships have dropped out of warp, sir, and have arrived at Vulcan. But we seem to have lost all contact." Kirk got a bad feeling in the bottom of her gut. _It's starting._

"Sir, I pick up no Romulan transmission, nor transmission of any kind in the area," Uhura said, listening intently even as she spoke.

"It's because they're being attacked," Jim said, her tone full of resignation. She wished it didn't have to be this, but it was. Pike looked around the bridge for a second before moving back to the command chair.

"Shields up, Red Alert," he said, and activity exploded around Jim, who once again felt like a fish out of water. She quickly moved up to a railing, ready for anything to occur. Bones wasn't so lucky. When the pilot announced that they were coming out of warp, her grip tightened even as she stared intently out the front view screen.

They descended into a massacre. Pieces of destroyed ship were everywhere, and immediately, evasive maneuvers were implemented. She winced when Bones was thrown to the bridge floor, but couldn't do anything about it as the sharp turns and abrupt changes of direction and speed rocked the entire area, forcing her to tighten her grip more or risk being flung around even more.

"Full reverse. Come about Starboard 90 degrees, drop us underneath it Sulu." _It_ was the gutted remains of the disc of the _USS Farragut_, and Jim felt a pang go through her, even though she didn't know why.

The sight of the massive Romulan ship stunned her into inactivity, and she could practically feel the shock radiating off of those who were looking around her. It was beautiful, in a weapon-of-mass-destruction kind of way, and her breath caught reflexively at the sight.

"Captain, they are locking torpedoes," Spock said in a would-be calm voice, and she closed her eyes for a moment, the realization that she was about to die hitting her like a ton of bricks. She'd tried, and it was all for naught.

"Divert auxiliary power from port nacelles to forward shields," Pike said commandingly, and her eyes snapped open, a burning hope nestled between her breasts. At least one of the torpedoes hit them broadside, and she nearly went down from the force. "Sulu! Status report!"

"Shields at 32%. Their weapons are powerful, sir, we can't take another hit like that!"

"Get me Starfleet Command." Pike's voice was like steel, and she drew strength like a plant draws life from the sun.

"Captain, the Romulans have lowered some high-energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere. Its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter ability," Spock said, and Jim felt like she could just fall into a puddle right there. No communications meant no hope, no chance.

"All power to forward shields, prepare to fire all weapons," Pike said, and again, the strength in his voice gave her the same, an indomitable feeling that they would not go down in this fight, at least not without trying to take the other down with her. _This is a good way to die,_ his words seemed to say. _Doing what's right, instead of what is easy._

"Captain, we're being hailed!" Uhura said, jumping up from her station to face the view screen. A non-descript Romulan appeared on-screen, the air of command settling on him like a cloak.

"Hello," he said genially, and Jim felt a shiver down her spine. This man killed her father, and his captain, in cold blood and for no discernable reason.

"I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?" Pike asked cautiously, and the Romulan's reply made Jim feel like running out of the room, for all that it was courteous in the extreme.

"Hi, Christopher. I'm Nero."

"You've declared war against the Federation," Pike said, and all Jim could do was stare at this Romulan, who was cocky enough to show himself on-screen to a fully-manned military vessel. Problem was, he had the power to back it up, and that's what scared her. "Withdraw, I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location." Jim was irrationally angry at Pike, who was trying his damndest to try diplomacy first, when that option was already long gone. But he was doing things by the book, and she couldn't think of anything to say, so she kept her mouth shut and watched.

"I do not speak for the Empire," Nero replied calmly. "We stand apart. As does you Vulcan crewmember. Isn't that right, Spock?" Jim was confused. Why was this Romulan worried about _Spock_? Nero had killed _her_ father, and he was focusing on Spock?

"Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted," Spock said, standing next to her at the railing.

"No, we're not. Not yet. Spock, there's something I would like you to see." The Romulan turned his attention back to Pike. "Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle and board the Narada for negotiations. That is all." As soon as the transmission cut off, Jim found her voice, and her words. She knew what she had to say here. Spock had moved next to the command chair, and was voicing much the same opinion.

"He'll kill you, you know that," she said, keeping the hard edge of fear out of her voice by sheer force of will.

"Your survival is unlikely," Spock seconded, as Pike moved toward the side of the bridge.

"Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake," she continued, voice stronger now, words harder.

"I, too, agree. You should rethink your strategy." Had this been any normal situation, she'd have been goggling by now at the fact that she was being agreed with by the same creature that had, only a few hours before, tried to get her removed from Starfleet.

"I understand that," Pike said, and Jim knew right there that all argument was useless. She recognized the tone; it was one she herself used often to keep people from questioning her decisions. "I need officers who've been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat." The pilot raised his hand.

"I have training, sir." Jim watched the by-play between the pilot and navigator, and felt sorry for Pavel, who was one of her friends; he looked like someone had just told him his _babushka_ had lung cancer and only had hours to live.

"Good. Come with me. You, too, Kirk, you're not even supposed to be here." She followed him, surprised. Females usually weren't sent on these kinds of missions, and a martial mission it was, because of the off-hand comment about training. But she wasn't a normal woman, had never been normal, so she went along with it.

As they went through the halls, she found herself thinking back to 3 years before, when her idea of a good time was hitting on a random being and starting a brawl with men who were afraid to hit her because of her size. Now here she was, about to do something even crazier, in a bid to save a planet, and her ship.

"Without transporters we can't beam off the ship, we can't assist Vulcan, we can't do our job," Pike said as he led them to an elevator near the Engineering deck and the shuttle bays. "Miss Kirk, Mr. Sulu, Engineer Olson, will space-jump from the shuttle. You will land on that machine they've lowered into the atmosphere that's scrambling our gear, you'll get inside it, you'll disable it, then you'll beam back to the ship. Mr. Spock, I'm leaving you in command of the _Enterprise._ Once you have transporter and communications back up, you're to contact Starfleet and report what the hell's going on here. And if all else fails, fall back, rendezvous with fleet in the Laurentian system. Kirk, I'm promoting you to First Officer."

"What?" Jim was stunned, as was Spock, it seemed.

"Captain? Please, I apologize but the complexities of human pranks escape me."

"It's not a prank, Spock, and I'm not the captain; you are. Let's go." Jim obediently followed Pike into the elevator, voicing only one question.

"Sir, after we knock out that drill, what happens to you?"

"Well, I guess you'll have to come and get me." Just before the doors closed, Pike looked at Spock. "be careful with the ship, Spock; she's brand new." The doors closed on a mildly pleasant look of Spock's perplexed expression. Jim followed Pike and changed into her jumpsuit in silence. She was going over every bit of her combat training, which was extensive, given that she'd been assistant instructor for the advanced class since the beginning of her second year at the Academy.

Once they were on the shuttle, she found herself placed between a very excited Engineer, and Sulu, who seemed cool as a cucumber. "You've got the charges, right?" she asked the engineer.

"Oh yeah," he said quickly."I can't wait to kick some Romulan ass. Right?"

"Sure." As they left the hangar, she turned to the Asian. "So what kind of combat training do you have?"

"Fencing." She was mildly alarmed by this answer, but let it go. Now was not the time to make fun of someone who was risking their life, just like she was, to disable a dangerous device.

"Pre-jump," Pike said from the command chair of the shuttle. They all stood and put their helmets on, Jim having a little difficulty due to the length of her hair, which Bones had convinced her to grow out. "Lady and gentlemen, we're approaching the drop-site. You have one shot to land on that platform. They may have defenses, so pull your chute as late as possible." They each reached for the railing that dropped from the ceiling in front of them. "Three, two, one." The gravity in the back of the shuttle was reversed, plastering them to the ceiling of the launch area. "Remember the _Enterprise_ won't be able to beam you back until you turn off that drill." His voice softened. "Good Luck."

Jim felt that with those words, she would never see that man again, which saddened her in the few seconds she had before the floor opened up and she was hurtling through space next to a giant drill structure. The pressure was incredible, and she felt like she would implode before they reached atmosphere, but they did, and she began reporting distance to target, as did the others. At 2000 meters, she and Sulu opened their chutes, bringing their free-fall to a swift halt, their descent slowed by the billowing fabric snapped taut. Olson continued his fall, releasing at 1000 meters, and disintegrating after breaking nearly every bone in his body from the impact with the platform.

She had no time to dwell on his departure from life, because the platform was suddenly there, and she went skittering across it like a stone over water, he parachute pulling her horizontally toward the same fate as the engineer. She finally got a hand in a crevice and managed to recall her chute, allowing her to stand on the platform without danger of falling. She removed her helmet and pulled off the hood, allowing the few strands that had escaped her hasty bun to fall free, just as one of the hatches opened and a male Romulan stepped out. She attacked recklessly, before he was aware of her, deathly silent when normally she would be bantering. Now wasn't a time for talk, but for action.

He had an obvious advantage of strength, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve, those self-same tricks that had made her an instructor in combat. She managed to wrest the rifle away from him, but not before shots were fired, and began slamming him across the face with her helmet, in a calculated move to cause brain damage. Another Romulan appeared, and she switched targets, her first at least momentarily subdued. She began trading blows with her second opponent as Sulu finally landed and began his own assault. She felt the crunch of her cheekbone breaking, but didn't let it deter her from her goal, which was incapacitating or killing the Romulan in front of her. There was no pain, no fear in this. There was only the fight, and she was determined to win. She ended up being thrown over the side, the only thing keeping her from death being the grip of her hands to the raised lip of the platform. The Romulan began playing hot potato with her hands, stamping down as hard and fast as he could. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sulu fighting the other one, and absently redefined his answer to her of 'fencing' as 'super-cool ninja shit that happens to use a sword.' Then her attention was caught by the Romulan, who had managed a direct hit on her left hand, crushing every finger with his weight.

Before he could stamp her other hand and send her careening toward the ground, a sword was suddenly sticking out of his chest, covered in his copper-based blood. He fell over her and she swung quickly to avoid the dead weight, her left hand hanging uselessly by her side.

"Give me your hand!" Sulu screamed, and with Herculean effort, she was pulled up to the platform. "Olson had the charges!" he continued, as they were hunched over, catching their breath.

"I know!" She scuttled for one of the dropped phaser rifles, heedless of her injury.

"What do we do?"

"This!" she screamed. And began shooting the mechanism. He joined her, and sparks soon were flying as the drill sputtered and died. They dropped the rifles, which were now useless, and she watched as something flew past them and into the hole.

"Kirk to _Enterprise!_ They've launched something into the hole they just drilled!" she commed frantically. "Do you copy _Enterprise?_"

"Yes, sir," a tinny voice answered.

"Kirk to _Enterprise!_ Beam us out of here!"

The transporter room replied with an admonishment to stay still as they were locked onto. They were both jolted when the platform shifted, Sulu falling from it with an abrupt yell of her name.

"KIRK!"

"SULU!" she screamed, jumping after him, heedless of the danger. He'd just saved her life; now it was her turn. "Hold on!" she yelled, even though she knew he couldn't hear her, and then she had a hold of him. "Pull my chute!" He did, and it deployed, only to snap off at her back, plunging them into abrupt free-fall once again. "Kirk to _Enterprise!_ We're falling without a chute! Beam us up!"

"I can't lock on!" the panicked Ensign replied.

"Beam us up! Beam us up!" she continued to yell, even as the Ensign continued to whine. Suddenly Pavel's voice was heard, yelling for manual control. "Beam us up!" she screamed again, knowing that her friend would be able to do it, but irrational fear causing her to continue her desperate pleas.

"Hold on, hold on!" Pavel yelled back, and she tried to wait, really she did.

"_Enterprise,_ where are you?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on!" came the frantic cries of her young friend.

"Now, now, now! Do it now! Now, now, now, now!"

"Okay, okay, okay! Hold on! Compensating grawitational pull, and…" Her words tapered off into screams, as did Sulu's, and just before they would have splatted onto the Vulcan soil, the familiar feeling of transporter energy surrounded them, and she instead landed half underneath Sulu, and their combined weight broke the transporter bubble beneath them.

"Yamayohr!" Pavel yelled, and all Jim could do was roll onto her stomach in an attempt to stand.

"Thanks," Sulu said, helping her up.

"No problem." They were forced off of the pad by Spock, who was beaming down to the planet to collect his parents and the rest of the Vulcan Council, who were apparently somewhere the transporter wouldn't reach.

"Clear the pad. I'm beaming down to the surface."

"The surface of what?" Even Jim knew that something was going on down there; as they had fallen, she had noticed rocks of various sizes breaking off and falling exponentially faster than normal toward the center of the planet. "What, are you going down there? Are you nuts? Spock you can't do that!"

"Energize."

"Spock!" she shouted; but it was too late, he was already disappearing in the white light of the transporter. She moved to stand behind Pavel, a hand on his shoulder, as they monitored Spock's progress. He disappeared for a few moments, but reappeared with four more signals.

"Spock to _Enterprise!_ Beam us out of her, now!"

"Locking wolume," Pavel replied, already inputting commands to lock onto the group as a whole. "Don't move, stay right where you are." As the transport started, one of the signals dropped, and she could see that Pavel was fighting frantically to stay locked, to keep that signal from disappearing. "I'm losing her! I'm losing her! No, I've lost her," he trailed off, as four of the five in the group appeared on the pad, Spock still reaching out for the fifth.

Jim felt her heart breaking for him; his face showed naked anguish, the fist real emotion she'd seen from him since they'd met. She quickly came to the realization that that signal, the only fully human one in the group, must have been his mother. Pavel was simply staring at the controls, and she saw Sulu put a hand on his shoulder. As Spock stepped toward the empty pod, part of her wanted to rush in and hug him, though she knew that would be highly inappropriate and most probably unwelcome.

She, Sulu, and the what was left of the Vulcan Council were chivvied to what was left of the MedBay, and Jim felt an irrational relief at seeing Bones, alive and well, treating injusries among crew and Vulcan alike. She herself was treated for the broken hand by a competent nurse, who wrapped the broken appendage swiftly and carefully, since the regenerators were all in use. She was checked for signs of a concussion and told that her cheekbone would have to wait, which she didn't mind in the least. A few minutes later, she got a quiet moment alone with Bones, who pulled her into a storage room.

"Damn it, Jim," was all he said before he pushed her against the shelf and kissed her, hard. She was surprised for a moment, but then returned the kiss with equal fervor, pouring her terror and grief into it. Nothing in it was romantic; there was too much negative emotion in both of them for that. Instead, it was a kiss that translated fear, and relief, and so many more things that she couldn't catalogue. "Don't you ever do that to me again, Jemima," he ordered roughly once he pulled away. She was still dazed, and could do nothing but clutch at him, hugging him for all she was worth, the stray thought that everything was different, that even their relationship had changed, floating into and out of her brain.

Soon enough he was called back into the main sickbay, and he kissed her again, this time softly, tenderly, before leaving her to go back to his duties. She stayed in the storage room for a few minutes, until Sulu found her, telling her that she was needed on the bridge. She followed him, as if lost in a dream, for a moment allowing herself to feel the wonder that was trying to suffuse her body, that Bones felt something that strong for her. Once they entered the bridge though, she had herself back under control as the discussion started.

Dead tired, she sat in the command chair, since nowhere else was open to sit. As Spock entered the bridge, he asked the million dollar question. "Have you confirmed that Nero is headed for Earth?"

"Their trajectory suggests no other destination, Captain," Uhura answered, and Jim detected a brittle undertone to her words, as if she were feeling the recent loss of the planet far more than the Captain himself.

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

"Earth may be his next stop," Jim said, leaning forward. "But we have to assume that every Federation planet's a target." Instead of answering her, Spock said something immensely amusing, at least to her.

"Out of the chair." She obligingly stood, ignoring her cracked ribs that she had neglected to tell even Bones about, and walked closer to Pavel's station.

"Well, if the Federation's a target," Pavel said. "Why didn't they just destroy us?"

"Why would they? Why waste a weapon? We obviously weren't a threat," Sulu said bitterly.

"That is not it," Spock said, cutting them off before an argument could begin. "He said he wanted me to see something, the destruction of my home planet." Bones spoke up, and Jim realized she hadn't even noticed him enter the bridge. She moved closer to him as he spoke.

"How the hell did they do that, by the way?" he said, and by the end of his question she was standing so close that the backs of their hands brushed, the comfort gained by such a small thing immeasurable, at least for her. "I mean, where did the Romulans get that kind of weaponry?"

"The engineering proficiency necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest an answer. Such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through space-time."

"Damn it man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist," Bones griped, and she felt him pulling away from her. She allowed it, knowing that he would want to rant with full range of motion. A wave of fondness rushed over her, and she felt a smile tuggin at the edges of her mouth, even in the middle of such a serious discussion. "Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?"

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth."

"How poetic."

"Then what would an angry, future Romulan want with Captain Pike?" she asked, finally breaking back into the conversation as Bones came back beside her.

"As Captain, he does know details of Starfleet's defenses," Sulu said, and the fear raged in her for a moment, before a latent touch from Bones made her come back to herself.

"What we need to do, is catch up to that ship, disable it, take it over, and get Pike back," she said, pushing away from the railing and Bones, walking into the center of the room.

"We are technologically outmatched in every way. A rescue attempt would be… illogical," Spock said, and she felt anger rush through her.

"Nero's ship would haf to drop out of warp in order for us to overtake him," Pavel said, and she glared at him. The traitor.

"Then what about assigning engineering crews to try and boost our warp yield?"

"The remaining power and crew are being used to repair radiation leaks in the lower decks-" Spock said.

"Okay! All right," she said, moving from her place in the center and walking toward him.

"And damage to subspace communications, without which we cannot contact Starfleet."

"There's gotta be some way – " she said, coming closer to him.

"We must gather with the rest of Starfleet, to balance the terms of the next engagement," he said, cutting her off, and again, she was wary of the sheer anger in his eyes. She pressed on though, because she knew she was right.

"There won't _be_ a next engagement!" she shouted over him. "By the time we've gathered, it'll be too late! But you say he's from the future, knows what's gonna happen? Then the logical thing, is to be unpredictable!"

"You are assuming that Nero knows the way events are predicted to unfold," Spock returned, taking a step toward her. She grudgingly gave ground, backing away until she hit a wall of muscle that happened to be Bones. "The contrary, Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the _U.S.S. Kelvin_ and culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entirely new chain of incidents that cannot be predicted by either party." She felt Bones' weight against her back and stood her ground as Spock stepped even closer.

"An alternate reality," Uhura said quietly, breaking out nonverbal stalemate. He turned to her with a nod.

"Precisely. Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed." As he spoke, Spock took the command chair, and she allowed herself to sag against Bones for a moment before standing tall again. How much differently would this conversation have already gone if he hadn't been in the room? "Mr. Sulu plot a course for the Laurentian system, warp factor 3."

"Spock don't do that," she said, rushing up to the command platform. "Running back to the rest of the fleet for a-a Confab, is a massive waste of time!"

"These are the orders issued by Captain Pike when he left the ship," Spock said over her, and she was infuriated by his calm tone. Why was _she_ the only one worried about this, when she wasn't even supposed to be there?

"He also ordered us to go back and get him. Spock, you are Captain, now! You have to make – "

"I am aware of my responsibilities, Miss Kirk."

"Every second we waste, Nero's getting closer to his next target!" she cried, knowing that her voice was getting louder with every word, but unable to help it. This… this man was going to condemn some planer to total destruction because he couldn't fucking make up his mind that the correct course was to pursue the hostile ship and disable it.

"That is correct, and that is why I am instructing you to accept the fact that I alone am in command."

"I will not allow us to go backwards!" she yelled, truly incensed now. Bones touched her arm but she shook him off, too angry to let him distract her.

"Jim, he's the captain!" Bones said, trying to divert me.

" – Away from the problem, instead of hunting Nero down!" she finished, over Bones' protests.

"Security, escort her out," Spock said, meeting her eye to eye as he stood. She looked up at him defiantly, unwilling to back down from her position. Two red-shirted personnel grabbed her by the arms, gently herding her toward one of the exits. Halfway across the bridge, she struck, taking down four of them to the sounds of Bones desperately telling her to stop before she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, and she knew no more.

A/N: So I told you, this is loosely based on the song, which means that you won't see it until it all comes together. I know it's fairly close to the movie, but I promise you that will change. As you saw with my Pitch Black/HP X-over, it's a common theme of mine. Mine will go beyond the movie, however, because the movie itself shouldn't take more than 4 chapters, especially if all of them are like this one (a little over 12 pages in Word, and 6,075 words not counting the ANs.

Let me know if I'm doing okay with first foray into gender-switching, which might or might not be explained. I haven't decided yet.


	2. Fear of Fallin'

Loosely based on the song Mine by Taylor Swift, not a song-fic. Girl!Kirk… which is something I've never done, but I'm gonna try, because I'm curious to see if I can. Let's do this!

Oh, by the way, Taylor's song is hers, and ST: XI belongs to whoever it belongs to… and J.J. Abrams.

Summary: The slow evolution of Jemima Kirk and Leonard McCoy, poster couple of the Federation.

Chapter 2: Fear of Falling

She woke up in a pod, with alarms blaring into her ears. Her shoulder ached dully, and she ordered the computer to tell her where she was while she unwrapped her hand, flexing it. It hurt, but not too much, which meant that just the right amount of adrenaline was beginning to pump through her system. The computer advised her to remain in the pod until help arrived, since the planet, Delta Vega, while being Class M and able to support human life, was unsafe.

She summarily ignored the advisement, pulling the emergency cold-weather gear out of its small compartment and packing it into a bag before free-climbing to the top of the 20-foot hole she found herself in. Once she got to the top, she scouted direction and put on her parka before starting on her 14 kilometer trek to the outpost, where she could complain to her heart's content with some sympathetic person who had also gotten the short end of the stick by being stationed in the ass end of nowhere.

Part of the way there, it began to snow, and she trudged along, amusing herself by trying to make a log, even though she didn't technically know the exact stardate, at least not enough to pinpoint it. She stopped her rant about treatment of prisoners when she heard something from behind her. She turned to see a draukolas chasing her. She began to sprint, hoping for shelter, since she'd been marooned with no weapon or other means to protect herself, and fighting one of these bad boys was a lot different than going head to head with a Romulan. A hengrauggi came out of nowhere, obliterating the draukolas before turning to chase her itself. She managed to outrun it by literally falling down a cliff, but got scored by the claws before finally making it into an ice cave. It followed her of course, and latched onto her right ankle, dragging her closer and closer to its gaping mouth. She tried kicking at the tongue-like appendage, with no luck. Suddenly a man with a torch stood in front of her, and the hengra let her go, shrieking in fear and pain from the appearance of fire.

She lay back, gasping for breath, as the man turned around. It was an old Vulcan, who looked stunned. "You are a Kirk?"

"Jemima T. Kirk, at your service," she replied breathlessly. "Do I know you?" She couldn't really remember all of the foreign dignitaries she'd met, although this guy looked more like a well off hermit than a political figure.

"I have been, and always shall be, your friend," the Vulcan said quietly. "How did you find me?"

"Look, who are you?"

"I am Spock."

"Uh-huh, and I'm the tooth fairy." He shook his head and led her to a small campfire, where she settled in to warm her hands and feet. He seemed to have expected someone different, and part of her felt ashamed of that for some reason, like she was supposed to be someone else for him. She felt inadequate, even though he was clearly insane.

"It is remarkably pleasing to see you, Jemima," he said amiably, and she reflected that at least he had remembered her name.

"It's Jem, or Jim," she corrected absently, turning slightly to warm her left side, even though it felt like it was on fire; her ribs must have cracked during her fall. Her back was burning from a combination of pain and hengra poison, but she had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"Jem, then. It is indeed pleasing to see you, especially after the events of today." She stood as quickly as she dared; this man was creepy and part of her would rather take her chances with the draukolas and the hengras.

"Look, sir, I appreciate you saving my life, really I do, but if you were Spock, you'd know that we aren't friends. At all. You hate me. You marooned me here for mutiny."

"You are not the Captain?" This seemed to mildly distress him slightly, and she backed away a few paces. Vulcans were stronger and faster; better to have space to run.

"No, you are. Captain Pike was taken hostage."

"By Nero." The certainty in his voice stunned her; who was this guy that he knew about Nero?

"What do you know about him?" she asked, intrigued despite herself. If he really knew anything at all, the information she could gain far outweighed his possible crazy, at least in her mind.

"He is a particularly troubled Romulan." He stood. "Please. Allow me." He approached her, one hand inverted and outstretched, fingers in a specific spacing. "It will be easier."

"What are you doing?" she asked, panic nearly getting the better of her curiosity again. He kept moving though, not giving her a straight answer.

"Our minds. One and together," he said, as if I should have understood him. His fingers pressed against my face, and he spoke again. "My mind to your mind." _My thoughts to your thoughts._ What followed was an information dump that left her heaving for breath with the emotional turmoil that accompanied it once he was done. She suddenly knew exactly what had happened to cause Nero's insanity, and what part this Spock played in it. The pain and grief at the loss of Vulcan were her undoing, and she sobbed helplessly against him for a long few minutes, embarrassed when she pulled away.

"So you do feel," she finally said, as he gently wiped her remaining tears away.

"My apologies. Emotional transference is a side effect of the mind meld."

"Coming back here, you changed all our lives," she gasped, mind still reeling from the intense emotional backlash of their connection.

"We must go," he said instead of reacting to her comment.

"Wait. Where you came from… Did I know my father?" she asked.

"Yes. You often spoke of him as being your inspiration for joining Starfleet. He proudly lived to see you become Captain of the _Enterprise._" There was something he wasn't saying, but she let it go.

"Captain?"

"A ship we must return you to as soon as possible."

They extinguished the fire and made their way to the outpost, where a small armadillo-like creature met them at the back entrance and led them into a large room, one corner of which was dominated by multiple terminals and a man leaning back in a chair, sleeping to the soothing sounds of some ball of fur in a cage. Jim was curious about the animal, but kept herself on track as the smaller creature woke the man up with a sharp prod.

"What?" As soon as the man sat up, he got an ugly look on his face. "You realize how unacceptable this is?" he hissed in a Scottish brogue, and Jim just wanted to grin, but stopped herself just in time.

"Fascinating," Spock said in a tone of wonder.

"What?" she asked him, only to be interrupted by the engineer.

"Okay, I realize you're just doing your jobs, but could you no' have come a wee bit sooner?" the man asked. "Six months, I've been here, living off of Starfleet protein nibs and the promise of a good meal! And I know exactly what's going on here, okay? Punishment, isn't it? Ongoing, for something that was clearly an accident." He was becoming increasingly incensed, and Jim wondered if all engineers were crazy, at least once they left the Academy, or if she was just lucky in her acquaintances so far.

"You are Montgomery Scott," Spock said, and she felt like she was watching a tennis match.

"You know him?"

"Aye, you're in the right place. Unless there's another hardworking, equally starved Starfleet officer around."

"Me," the little thing said, and she was briefly amused by the argument that ensued.

"I'm talking about food! Real food. But, you're here now, so thank you. Where is it?"

"You are, in fact, the Mr. Scott who postulated the theory of trans-warp beaming?" Spock asked, seeming to be used to the man's obsession with food.

"That's what I'm talking about," he replied. "How do you think I wound up here? I had a little debate with my instructor on the issue of relativistic physics and how it pertains to subspace travel. He seemed to think that the range of transporting something like a grapefruit was limited to 100 miles. I told him that I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet in the same system, which is easy, by the way, I could do it with a life form. So, I tested it out on Admiral Archer's prized beagle."

"I know that dog," she said She'd found the poor thing wandering on Academy grounds and put up flyers to get it back home. "What happened to it?"

"I'll let you know when it reappears. I don't know, I do feel guilty about that."

"What if I told you that your transwarp theory was correct, that it is indeed possible to beam onto a ship that is traveling at warp speed?"

"I think if that equation had been discovered, I'd have heard about it," Scott answered promptly.

"The reason you haven't heard of it, Mr. Scott, is because you haven't discovered it yet."

"I'm so- Eh… Eh…" Scott stood. "Are you from the future?"

"He is. I'm not," she supplied helpfully.

"Well that's brilliant! Do they still have sandwiches there?" Spock assured him that they did, but apologized that he had no form of sustenance on him, and all she had were more protein packs. They eventually persuaded them to let them use his transporter, with the understanding that he would be coming back to the _Enterprise_ with her.

"The notion of transwarp beaming is like trying to hit a bullet, with a smaller bullet, whilst blindfolded, riding a horse," he complained, even as Spock was busy typing into the terminal. "What's that?" he asked as Spock stood.

"Your equation for achieving transwarp beaming." Scotty sat down in front of the terminal, Keenser (the other engineer) settling in beside him to study the screen.

"Well imagine that!" Scotty said, gobsmacked. "It never occurred to me to think of space as the thing that was moving." Jim followed Spock over to the controls.

"You're coming with us, right?"

"No, Jemima. That is not my destiny. You must take control of your ship; no one can do it for you. It is doubly hard for you now, than it would have been if – " He cut himself off. "I cannot come with you."

"The other Spock is not gonna believe me," she protested. "Only you can explain what the hell's happened."

"Under no circumstances can he be made aware of my existence."

"You mean I can't tell _you_ that I'm following _your_ orders? Why not? What could happen?"

"Jem, this is one rule you must not break. To stop Nero, you have to do this by yourself."

"How? By killing you?"

"Preferably not," Spock said, the ghost of a smile hovering at the corners of his lips. "However, there is Starfleet regulation 619. 619 states that any command officer who is emotionally compromised by the mission at hand must resign said command."

"So, you mean I have to emotionally compromise… you guys?"

"Jim, I've just lost my planet. I can tell you, I am emotionally compromised. You must get me to show it." It was weird, talking about Young Spock like they were both the same person, which, she guessed genetically, they were.

"Aye, then lassie, live or die, let's get this over with," Scott said, breaking the moment. She joined him in the transporter frame, and watched with subdued fondness as he pushed Keenser away gently. "You cannae come with me. You cannae come with me, go on."

She leaned over the side of her frame, toward Old Spock. "You know, coming back in time, changing history? That's cheating."

"A trick I learned from an old friend," Spock said, with a wistful look on his face. He then held up the ta'al, which was impossible for her to do, so she just waved as she stood up. "Live long and prosper." The lights of the transporter beam took over her sight, and when she reappeared, she immediately stopped breathing and began pounding. She was surrounded by water and a metal something-or-other.

"Kirk! Kirk!" She continued to beat and nearly breathed in water when she was dragged into a horizontal pipe by the water pressure. Scott ran across the room, away from her, even as she screamed without opening her mouth as she shot through the clear pipes. Suddenly she was falling, and landed hard, on the floor.

"Are you alright? Kirk are you alright?" Scott said loudly.

"I'm fine… Wet, cold, and have a headache, but I'm good." She stood up and leaned against him as a wave of dizziness hit, before starting to run through Engineering to get to the exit and up to the bridge. They were cornered on a scaffolding, and led straight to Spock. Both of them were soaking wet, and Scott had lost his hat somewhere, and she made a mental note to actually formally protest her treatment at his hands.

When they reached the bridge, Spock turned to Scott. "Who are you?"

"I'm with her/He's with me," they replied in unison.

"We are traveling at warp speed. How did you manage to beam aboard this ship?" His tone was angry, short. A plan emerged in her mind.

"I'm not telling, Acting Captain. What, that doesn't frustrate you? My lack of cooperation? That doesn't make you angry?" She deliberately made her tone casual, insulting.

"Are you a member of Starfleet?" he asked, turning his attention to Scott.

"Yes. Can I get a towel?" She could have kissed the man for that answer.

"Under penalty of court martial I order you to explain to me how you got onto this ship."

"Don't answer him," she said promptly.

"You will answer me."

"I'd rather not take sides," Scott said, catching onto her plan with a glance. Insanity made the best accomplice.

"What is it with you?" she asked, stepping closer to him, deliberately getting into his personal space. "Your planet was just destroyed, your mother murdered," she continued, wincing internally at Pavel's expression from the corner of her eye but having no time to explain herself to him. "You aren't even upset."

"If you are presuming that these experiences in any way impede my ability to command this ship, you are mistaken."

"Weren't you the one who said fear was necessary for command," she said, voice dripping with condescension. She could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. That was good, but she needed him to physically act out, or realize his situation. "Did you see his ship? Did you see what he did?"

"Of course I did." His voice was quiet now, and she was getting closer.

"So, are you afraid or aren't you?"

"I will not allow you to lecture me about emotion," he replied, still in that utterly quiet voice, body fairly vibrating with the wish to lash out at her, for saying things he should have been telling himself.

"Then why don't you stop me?" she asked, taking another step closer. The rest of the bridge was utterly still, all attention placed on them, just the way she needed it to be. She would have preferred for this to have happened in private, to preserve both of their dignities, but if this was the way it had to happen, she'd prefer witnesses.

"Step away from me, Miss Kirk," he said, a threatening edge to his tone now.

"What's it like not to feel anger? Or heartbreak? Or the need to stop at nothing to avenge the woman who gave birth to you?" In the back of her mind, she was saying these things to herself, because she wasn't even thinking about her father's death anymore, just the need to take command in order to save a planet, though she didn't know whether it would be Earth or another one on the way.

"Back away from me," he said, tone becoming brittle. She was almost there. Now for the icing on the cake.

"You feel nothing! It must not even compute for you!" Her tone was righteously angry, though whether that was honestly directed at the man in front of her or herself, she wouldn't ever be able to tell. "You never loved her!" there it was, she thought with a sick satisfaction, as he roared in rage and attacked. She did her best to defend but not hit back, but when going up against someone who is three times as strong as a male human, that was quite difficult.

She ended up bent backwards over a control panel, his hand around her neck, slowly choking the life from her. Part of her wondered if this gamble would be paid with her life, instead of his command.

"Spock!" a voice called from far away, sharp but even, emotionless even in its urgency. She knew that Vulcans were touch-telepaths, so she focused all of herself into conveying apology, and resolve, and the certainty that she had that she needed to be in command, and not him, that he needed time to come to terms, whereas she was used to loss in her life and could file it away for later perusal much easier than he could, with his double tragedy.

He finally let go of her, and the blind rage in his eyes shifted to immense sorrow and regret. Regret not only for hurting her in such a manner, but for his previous actions as well. All she could do was let understanding fill her eyes, even as she coughed hard, trying to get her breath back.

He walked past Bones, who was looking at her with an expression she didn't recognize. Yet another perfectly good relationship, ruined by horrible timing and necessity. She refused to let it bother her though, as she sat up slightly, still coughing hard. "Doctor," Spock said, his voice thin as if he'd just realized he had it. "I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command, based on the fact that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log." He nodded to Bones briefly before exiting the bridge, his father (the one who called out, she was told later) following him shortly.

"I like this ship!" Scotty said suddenly, trying to break the dread pall that had fallen over the entire room. "You know, it's exciting!"

"Well, congratulations, Jem," Bones said, and his use of her other nickname hurt, as he probably wanted it to. She couldn't look him in the eye, the recrimination there would be too much, especially added to the guilt that was doing the tango in her own mind. "We've got no Captain, and no Goddamned First Officer to replace him."

"Yeah we do," she said raggedly, pushing herself to get up and walk to the chair.

"What?" Bones asked, incredulous.

"Pike made her First Officer," Sulu said.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Bones griped.

"Thanks for the support, Dr. McCoy," she said stiffly, darkly pleased to see the hurt blossom in his eyes. Maybe now he knew what it felt like to be treated differently, to be shunned for doing his job, for being an ass. Her head hurt, her hands hurt, her sides and back burned, and so did her throat.

"I hope you know what you're doing, _Captain_," Uhura said quietly, the last word in the same mocking tone she'd used during the simulation test. She didn't really blame her, and at least her words implied that she knew that there was some kind of plan afoot.

"Me, too," she rasped, before coughing again and clearing her throat. She keyed in shipwide comms. "Attention crew of the _Enterprise_, this is Jemima Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to Acting Captain. I know you were all expecting to regroup with the fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in 10 minutes. Either we're going down, or they are. Kirk out." She cut off the transmission and leaned back in the chair, trying to breathe. Her arms hurt badly from trying to block the blows to her head, and she knew her throat looked like someone had given her a color-changing necklace, from golf to red to purple, and every shade in between.

"Jim," Bones said quietly, stepping closer. She held up a hand, her broken hand, which was now more broken, after her time on the planet, and stopped him before he could be next to her.

"I don't have time, Len," she said, equally as quiet. "we need to figure out how to catch up to Nero's ship without being detected."

"You need to dry off, and eat something. Both of you," he said stubbornly, including Scotty in the order. "And I need to see if you've messed up anything with your jaunt." She laughed, a horrible, humorless parody of her usual, and saw his face shut down momentarily, before guilt, pain, anger and more guilt skittered across it, faster than anyone but her, who knew him so well, could see.

"You think what you want, Len. I agree to a change of clothes and getting a regenerator on my hand. Wrap my ribs. They'll take too long and probably get snapped again anyway."

"Do you have sandwiches here?" Scotty asked as she gave Sulu the conn and followed he and Bones off the bridge.

After a shower and a change of clothes, into another set of blacks, that she finally figured out were Bones', and a good meal of Chana Masala (chickpea curry, since she was allergic to most proteins, especially meats) and numerous sandwiches (for Scotty, who even took some back to the bridge, which wile technically against the regs, was a damn good idea).

She had her hair pulled into a low ponytail, a towel over her shoulders protecting her blacks from the worst of the water from her 2-feet long hair. Scotty was wandering around cleaning out his ears with another towel, and she and Bones had joined the discussion about what to do.

The talking continued, with no one coming up with anything viable. Pavel was off at one of the workboards, playing with equations, and she had the most hope from him, and maybe Scotty. Uhura brought something up, which was immediately shot down by Sulu. "Whatever the case, we need to get aboard Nero's ship undetected," she repeated for what felt like the thousandth time in five minutes.

"We can't just go in guns blazing, Jim," Bones said. "Not with their technology."

"I'm telling you, the math doesn't support this," Sulu said stubbornly. She leaned over to look at what he was protesting, and Pavel came through for her.

"Keptain Kirk, Keptain Kirk!" he called out as he sped over.

"What is it Mr. Chekov?" she asked, slightly amused by his enthusiasm. "What is it?"

"Based on ze Narada's course from Wulcan, I haf projected that Nero will travel past Saturn. Like you said, we need to stay inwisible to his sensors, or he'll destroy us. If Mr. Scott can get us to Warp Factor 4, and if we drop out of warp behind one of Saturn's moons, say… Titan, ze magnetic distortion from ze planets rings will make us inwisible to Nero's sensors. From zere, as long as the drill is not actiwated, we can beam aboard the enemy ship." She'd noticed both Scotty's arrival into the conversation and Bones' skepticism. Now only to figure out which would prevail.

"Aye, that might work!" Scotty said, nodding as equations started spinning in his eyes.

"Wait a minute, kid. How old are you?" Here came the skepticism, she thought with a sigh. Bones didn't know Pavel, because they ran in different circles, but she had hoped that name might have registered when she talked about the boy during dinner or when she was being patched up.

"Sewenteen, sir," Pavel answered, promptly and proudly, just the way she'd taught him.

"Oh good. He's seventeen," Bones said, turning to me as if I would say no just because of that.

"Chekov's brilliant, Bones."

"Doctor." They all turned to see Spock, eyes burning with some unnamed emotion, standing near the entrance to the bridge. "Mr. Chekov is correct. I can confirm his telemetry." Spock came closer. "If Mr. Sulu can maneuver us into position, I can beam aboard the Narada, steal back the black hole device, and if possible, rescue Captain Pike."

She stepped up to him, keeping a neutral distance. He seem calm, and resolved to a course of action, but it had been less than an hour since he'd relinquished command, so she was still wary. "I can't let you do that, Mr. Spock," she said. It was a suicide mission, and the last thing she wanted was for both of them to die, although with the plan forming in her head, it mightn't come to that after all.

"Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry," he replied, tilting his head slightly. "Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access the ship's computer to locate the device." He took a step forward, closer to her and to the group. "Also, my mother was human, which makes Earth the only home I have left."

"Then I'm coming with you," she said as if she'd just thought of it, ignoring Bones' look for the moment.

"I would cite Regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it."

She smiled, a genuine smile, probably the first one she'd given out since Bones had kissed her in the MedBay. "See? We are getting to know each other." She moved around him, slapping his shoulder far harder than necessary, reveling in the slightly confused, slightly angry look he sent at her back.

"How're we doing, Scotty?" she asked, as she, Bones, Spock and Uhura trooped into the Transporter room, which was empty except for them and Scotty.

"Unbelievably, ma'am, the ship is in position." She paused at the comm controls for a moment, keying the Helm.

"Whatever happens, Mr. Sulu, if you think you have the tactical advantage, you fire on that ship, even if we're still onboard. That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am," came Sulu's resigned reply.

"Otherwise we'll contact the _Enterprise_ when we're ready to be beamed back."

"Good luck," Sulu said, cutting the transmission from his side. She continued up to the platform, ignoring the strange sight of Spock and Uhura embracing in favor of her own goodbye.

"Jim, when you get back from this and we have free time, we have gotta talk," Bones said into my hair, which I'd pulled into a tight bun at the back of my head with Uhura's help. "And you will come back to me, y'hear?" he added, his drawl heavy in her ear. She closed her eyes and leaned against him for a moment, soaking in the ambient emotion he was giving off and also the sense of comfort he gave her.

"You know me, Len," she said, and she saw that it finally dawned on him that she had used the nickname she never used in front of anyone else, 3 times in the last 2 hours, in front of people. "I'm like a roach. Every time something tries to kill me, I infest their house and go on living." He choked out a laugh at her comment and she smiled, pulling him down for a kiss. It was their third technical kiss, so she thought she should be forgiven for drawing it out just a bit. When she finally released him, he hugged her close, as if he could memorize every part of her in a split second. Her ears caught the edge of the other goodbye, and she finally found out something she'd been dying to know and that no one would tell her.

"I'll be monitoring your frequency," Uhura murmured, and Spock looked like that was the best thing he could have wished for.

"Thank you, Nyota," he answered, and Uhura turned away, looking at the two of them with a sad sort of smile on her face. Jim gently disentangled herself, asking the other woman with her eyes to maybe look after Len for a bit, until he came back to himself. Uhura nodded and led Len out of the transporter room, ostensibly to go back to the bridge.

Scotty looked like he'd seen more weird things in those 30 seconds than in his entire life, and she wanted to laugh. Instead she glanced at Spock. "So, her first name's Nyota?"

"I have no comment on the matter." She turned back to Scotty with a grin that she didn't really feel.

"Okey-dokey then, if there's any common sense in the design of the enemy ship, I'll be putting you somewhere in the cargo Bay. Shouldn't be a soul in sight."

"Energize," she said after glancing at Spock again and taking a deep breath. Her vision went white as the transporter beam began to work, and they materialized into chaos.

A/N: Okay, second chapter, way after my bedtime, but I couldn't stop typing. I'm going to have to up the rating for next chapter, now that I'm getting into the planning. It's where the split will happen, though not quite in the way you'd expect. There will be non-graphic graphic content though, just as a warning. I might write an explicit version and maybe actually create an LJ to put it on… What do you think? Either way, the rating going up will only be because it is described in the abstract, not because it is described in full Technicolor detail. Not sure if I could stomach that, and it's my own head making these images up!

Please read and review, they work better than RockStars (which I also don't own the rights to) and smokes.


	3. Why Bother?

Loosely based on the song Mine by Taylor Swift, not a song-fic. Girl!Kirk… which is something I've never done, but I'm gonna try, because I'm curious to see if I can. Let's do this!

Oh, by the way, Taylor's song is hers, and ST: XI belongs to whoever it belongs to… and J.J. Abrams.

Summary: The slow evolution of Jemima Kirk and Leonard McCoy, poster couple of the Federation.

Chapter 3: Why Bother?

They materialized in what was definitely _not_ a cargo hold, unless things had changed drastically in 129 years, in which case she was impressed. She was immediately dodging and returning phaser fire, Spock doing the same near her. One got a luck shot off and she could feel the searing at the back of her head as her bun disintegrated, leaving her with a painful wound on her scalp. She ignored it and kept firing, the same way she was ignoring everything else, with and intensity that bordered on insanity.

They finally cleared the ranks enough that she could risk it, stunning one of the Romulans. Spock sidled up next to her, and she motioned him over to the downed alien.

"You are sure?" he asked, almost subvocally, and she nodded.

"Go, I've got you." She watched for Romulans while he took the information they needed, a nervous energy pulsing in her. "Do you know where it is? The black hole device?"

"And Captain Pike," Spock said with sudden certainty. As they made their way to the device, a plan formed, one that he didn't like, but one that she insisted on. He would take the device, and she would get Pike, and both of them would be fine at the end of it. They both had made promises.

"I foresee a complication," Spock said when they entered the ship, and she had to bite back a comment. "The design of the ship is far more advanced than I would have anticipated."

"Welcome back, Ambassador Spock," the computer said, after confirming voice print and facial analysis.

"That doesn't sound ominous," she chirped, moving past him and into the cockpit, wanting to get away from the substance that had started all of this trouble.

"It appears that you have been keeping important information from me, Captain," he complained in his way once he joined her in the cockpit. She was marveling over the controls, and wished that she could pilot it, but it was his ship, and his responsibility.

"You'll be able to fly this, right?" she asked instead of revealing the identity of her helper on Delta Vega.

"Something tells me I already have," he replied, and she thought that he was smiling, for a split second, before reason returned.

"Good luck," she said finally, before turning away and heading out of the cockpit and toward the ship's exit. His voice stopped her before she made it out the door.

"Jem," he said, and she marveled at his use of her first name. "The statistical likelihood that our plan will succeed is less than 2%."

"It'll work," she reassured.

"In the event that I do not return, please tell Lt. Uhura – "

"Spock! It'll work." She could see the resolve settle into his face and she turned away. She quickly exited the ship, Spock's instructions on where Captain Pike was running through her head as the small ship took off and she hid for a moment, before making her way.

She came through a tunnel-like corridor, only to see Nero standing one level up. She trained her phaser on him, but he didn't move, other than to continue to stare at her as she moved through the room. She felt dirty from his gaze, like she needed a shower, as soon as possible. "Nero, order your men to disable the drill, or I – " She was caught off-guard when something barreled into her from the side, slamming her into the floor. Her already pained ribs protested as she was bodily covered by some random Romulan, only for that Romulan to be quickly replaced by Nero himself.

"I know your face, from Earth's History," Nero panted into her ear, and she closed her eyes, not wanting to think about what could happen. "James T. Kirk was considered a great man. He went on to captain the _U.S.S. Enterprise_. But that was another life. A life I will deprive you of, just as I did your father." She grunted as he choked her, pressing inexorably against her windpipe, and then she felt something else, something infinitely more sinister. A weight against her lower abdomen, and the peculiar way Nero was breathing. "But first… "

She was resigned to what was obviously going to happen; she'd been trained for it after all, and she knew better than to hope that it wouldn't, or that it was because she was a woman. Rape was about control, and as long as he had control of her, he had power. Before he could do much more than get her pants undone, though, a miracle arrived in the form of a Romulan bearing a message. The Vulcan ship was gone, and the drill was destroyed.

Nero disappeared, screaming Spock's named in a demented litany, and she quickly redid her pants before jumping the same way he did, landing awkwardly, but landing, reaching for anything that might give her an advantage. The other Romulan, the one that had hit her, landed in front of her and picked her up by her neck.

"Your species is weaker than I expected," he purred. "Though I have to admit, you aren't hard to look at, even in your condition." She grunted, throwing him off guard while she maneuvered to get to his phaser pistol, which was at his hip.

"I can't…" she started.

"You can't what? You can't even speak," he said, licking a path up the side of her face.

"I got your gun," she said, though it sounded like gibberish.

"What?"

"I got. Your. Gun!" she enunciated, pulling it from its holster and shooting him in the stomach. She managed to land on the platform instead of off it, and grabbed the dropped phaser and continued on her way to Captain Pike.

"What are you doing here, girl?" the Captain asked as she began to unstrap him.

"Coulda sworn you gave me an order," she answered with a grin, leaning over to get to the straps on his lower body. She felt his hand on her hip, too quickly to really register, and then another 2 Romulans were down, as he sighted over her back with her stolen phaser. She quickly undid the rest of the straps and helped him from the table, nearly buckling because he may have been a thin man, but he was not light.

"_Enterprise_ now!" she screamed into her communicator, hoping she was in time. She did a mental dance when all three of them appeared on the receiving pad, and helped Spock drag Pike forward even as the medical personnel came into the room.

"Jem!"

"Bones!" she yelled, but instead of hugging him she foisted the Captain off on him and followed Spock, who was heading for the bridge. There was no time for sentimentality now.

"Keptain, the enemy ship is losing power. Their shields are down, ma'am," Pavel said, his smile infectious.

"Hail them now," she ordered shortly, Spock following her to the viewscreen.

"Aye."

When Nero's face appeared, she reintroduced herself, ignoring Spock's questioning look. "This is Jemima T. Kirk of the _U.S.S. Enterprise_. Your ship is compromised." She wanted to offer mercy, but she couldn't, until she felt Spock's hand brush the back of hers, and new strength filled her. She wasn't like these monsters, to kill and kill and never give hope for redemption. "Too close to the singularity to survive without assistance, which we are willing to provide." Spock turned, and she followed so that they were no longer fully facing Nero.

"Captain, what are you doing?"

"I'm the bigger being, Spock. This might be the only way to prevent war – this is logic, I thought you'd like that."

"Not this time, no," he replied, smirk faintly tipping his lips.

"I would rather suffer the end of Romulus again. I would rather die in agony, than accept assistance from you," Nero raged, and she grinned, her smile the same as when she hustled pool at the bar; ruthless and cold as ice.

"That can be arranged," she said. "'Bye, Pooky." She turned. "Arm phasers. Fire everything we've got," she said, making her way to the command chair, noticing Spock mirroring her actions on the other side, heading for his science station.

"Yes, sir!" Sulu said exuberantly, and she watched as he and Pavel destroyed the front of the Narada. It gave her a sense of closure, to know that her father's murderer was finally being brought to justice, though part of her was sad. Sad that it had taken the destruction of a planet to bring him down.

A warning about gravitational pull popped up on the view screen as the last of the ship disintegrated into the growing black hole.

"Sulu! Let's go home!" she yelled.

"Yes, sir!" Sulu shouted back, over the automatic red alert. They turned, but they were still being inexorably pulled.

"Why aren't we at warp?" she asked desperately.

"We are, ma'am!" Pavel said, and she could see both of them trying to coax more power from the engines.

"Kirk to Engineering! Get us out of here Scotty!" she yelled, something close to panic in her voice.

"You bet your ass, Captain!" Scotty yelled back. "Captain we're caught in the gravity well! It's got us!"

"Go to maximum warp!" she ordered, ignoring the feeling of absolute panic that was threatening to take her over. "Push it!"

"I'm giving her all she's got!" Scotty complained, and she could hear banging coming from his end of the connection. The overhead in the bridge began to pull apart.

"All she's got isn't good enough! What else you got?"

"O-Okay if we eject the core and detonate, the blast could be enough to push us away. I cannae promise anything, though!" As Scotty spoke, the viewscreen cracked.

"Do it, do it, do it!" she screamed, afraid that the cracks would grow and she wouldn't have to worry about her crew being pulled into a black hole; they'd suffocate first. The explosion happened quickly, though it seemed like it was forever before she was forced back into her seat with the force as they were accelerated beyond the explosion and out into open space. It had worked.

She exchanged relieved grins with the rest of the bridge crew, before trying to catch her breath. It seemed like she was breathing through a straw, and she began to choke, unable to get air. She couldn't go anywhere until the repairs-schedule was underway, so she bit back her discomfort, even when her vision started to sparkle at the edges.

"Captain!" someone yelled, and she heard it like it was coming to her through a tunnel, as she slowly collapsed, sliding out of the chair. She was caught before she hit the ground, and she heard Spock's voice over her, ordering the evacuation to auxiliary bridge and to have the main bridge sealed until basic repairs could be seen to. She was lifted and felt whoever was carrying her sprinting for somewhere.

A litany of Russian reached her ears and she realized it was Pavel carrying her, and she knew that even burdened as he was, he could beat anyone on the ship but Spock, who had the obvious advantage of strength and stamina. She curled into him, choking on her own saliva and dirty air. As soon as they got into MedBay, she heard commotion and assumed it was because of Pike. She was laid down on a biobed and immediately sedated.

When she woke up, her throat didn't hurt as much anymore, settling in at a dull ache. A calloused hand was running over her face, moving down to her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes to see Bones standing next to her biobed, dirty scrubs showing that he was just recently out of surgery.

"Hey," she said, and was surprised when her alto voice was no longer raspy.

"Didn't I tell you not to do that again?" he rumbled, gently pushing what little hair she had left from her face.

"And didn't I tell you I'd come back?" she returned, leaning into the touch. "How long was I out?"

"I just got out of surgery with Pike, so… about 4 hours."

"The ship?"

"Spock's got it under control," he soothed, pushing her back on the bed when she tried to sit up. Her ribs were a fierce ache, which meant they hadn't been fixed at all. "We need to fix you up, Jem." She smiled at him, and the pain from her cheekbone didn't come. That had probably been fixed while she was out, a fact for which she was grateful.

"Okay. No hyposprays, though. Remember what happened last time." His soft laughter filled her with warmth and she allowed him to fix her ribs, gritting her teeth against the pain, since she was allergic anything with any kind of pain suppressing properties. When he was finished, he hugged her close for a moment, speaking directly into her ear.

"I was so worried, Jem," he said, and she leaned her forehead against him.

"Me, too, Len. Me, too." She pulled away finally and stood up. "I have to get an update on what's going on. Can you let me know when Pike wakes up?" She forced herself to be professional, because as much as she wanted to stay and be comforted, she had work to do.

"Okay, Captain," he said, adopting the same façade. She nodded and smiled at him, touching his hand before leaving Sickbay and heading to the auxiliary bridge. When she walked in, small cheers erupted from parts of the bridge, and Pavel was one of the loudest. She grinned self-consciously and approached the command chair, which Spock vacated for her. As soon as she sat, she ran her fingers lightly over the armrests before looking around.

"Status report, Mr. Spock," she said, and was rewarded with a quirked eyebrow before Spock told her that shift-rotation would begin in an hour, and repairs were already being implemented for the most important systems. She nodded; Spock still knew his stuff, even if he was compromised. "Thank you, Mr. Spock. Mr. Sulu, what's our ETA to Earth?"

"Current estimate with power output, we're looking at 5 days, though Engineering reports confidence that the power output can be maximized as much as possible, lowering that estimate to 3 days."

"3 is better than 5," she agreed, turning her attention to calling Scotty to get his personal estimate.

"Well, we're a wee bit banjaxed, but I can double the sublight output in about 16 hours, so Sulu's report is accurate as far as we can guess," Scotty said; the banging and sounds of tools in the background proved Spock's report of repairs.

"Let me know if anything changes, Scotty. Kirk, out." Uhura caught her attention.

"Captain, there's a call for you from Starfleet Command."

"For me personally or for the Captain?"

"The Captain, ma'am."

"Put it up on the main screen." She sat straighter in her seat, well aware of the picture she must make, what with half of her hair being singed or completely gone. But she was ready to talk to the Admiralty, and the question was if they were ready to talk to her.

"Capta – Kirk?" Admiral Komack was on screen, and she simply nodded.

"Admiral. A lot has happened. Have you received our preliminary reports?" She didn't have to worry about them not having been sent; Spock was on duty, and he was obviously a stickler for those kinds of things.

"We did. You are all that's left of the Cadet Fleet, _Enterprise_. The main Fleet sent search ships to the area of Vulcan and found absolutely nothing, not even debris." She noted the winces around her, and began to reconsider her decision to take this call in public. "What I don't understand, is why you are Captain? You're not even supposed to be in space."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Spock said from her right shoulder, and she looked up, startled.

"Granted."

"I relinquished command to Kirk after being made aware of my own emotional compromise," Spock said succinctly, and with no hint of embarrassment. She noticed he didn't tell the Admiral that the situation had culminated in attempted murder, but she didn't say anything either. "Her command style is unorthodox, but if she had not been in command, we would not be speaking at this moment."

Komack cleared his throat. "Duly noted, Commander. Captain Kirk, we are requesting regular updates concerning your ETA back to Command."

"I can give you one now, Admiral, as I just received it myself on my return to the bridge. Our current ETA is approximately 5 days, but our Chief Engineer is certain that that can be shortened to closer to 3 days. Regular reports and updates will, of course, be forwarded to Command, as they are compiled. Is that satisfactory?"

"Very. I'm sure you have repairs to get underway."

"Repairs were begun 3.78 hours ago, Admiral," Spock said, and the Admiral looked confused.

"But the captain just recently returned to the bridge."

"My Chief Engineer knows what he's doing, Admiral, and doesn't need to be babysat," she said, a hint of her disdain pulling through her words. "I was in Sickbay, being treated for injuries received while on the Narada. I was just cleared and returned to duty. I have full faith in the rest of my Department Heads as well. They all are the best at what they do."

"I didn't mean to disparage your people, Captain. Are there any updates on Captain Pike's status?"

"When I left, CMO McCoy had just left surgery. He is confident that Captain Pike will make a full recovery, though it will take a few months at the least. He's out of the woods, now, so to speak."

"I'll pass that on. I would recommend setting your people up on a rotating schedule to contact their families when time allows."

"I already have a roster set up," Uhura confirmed from her station. Damn, Jim wished that this was really her ship. These people were made of pure win! "It will be implemented at the same time shift-rotation starts."

"Thank you Lieutenant," she said happily before turning back to the Admiral, who had a strange look on his face. "Was there anything else, Admiral?"

"Not at this time, Captain. Further contact will be made the closer you get to home."

"How is it down there, sir?" she asked cautiously. Her mother was supposed to be visiting San Francisco for a conference, according to her last transmission, and they were going to meet for lunch, which obviously hadn't happened.

"Very few casualties, considering. The Bridge was damaged by the piece of the drill that was sheared off, but only a few of the cars driving on the bridge were destroyed." His eyes softened. "As far as I know, no Starfleet personnel, on duty or off, were killed here on Earth." She nodded self-consciously. Her mother was an Admiral in her own right, but preferred to be out on the missions, so carried the field title of commander.

"Thank you Admiral, I'll pass that along to the crew. Could we get a list of the Earth casualties? I'm sure some of my crew have family in San Francisco."

"Of course." He pushed a few buttons on his computer. "It's on its way."

"Admiral, if there's nothing else…?" She didn't want to cut him off, but there was work to be done.

"Of course. Keep us posted. Komack out." The viewscreen cleared and she sagged in her chair, the lingering fatigue and strange relief draining her.

"Captain?" Spock questioned.

"Steady as she goes, Mr. Spock," she answered, sitting up again. "Admiral Komack just gave me good news." She didn't want to tell him exactly what it was, seeing as how he had just lost his own mother.

"Commander Kirk is well, I take it?" She snapped her head up, surprised. His eyes held grief, but also understanding. "She was scheduled to speak at a conference I was to attend. It is only logical that you would enquire, however obliquely, after her health."

"Well, when you put it that way," she said, mock-happily. "I didn't want to bring it up out here… It's insensitive of me."

"Relief is to be expected after all of the carnage we have recently witnessed."

"Hmm…. We'll see when we get back. I'm not even sure if she's talking to me right now, even if we did have a lunch date set up."

"I am sure she will be willing to converse with you," he said, a puzzled look in his eyes. She laughed.

"You've never met my mother, Commander. Count yourself lucky for that. Okay, back to business. Sulu, are we on course? Gonna run into anything along the way?"

"No ma'am," Sulu said, a grin tugging at his mouth. "We aren't on a collision course with anything at the moment."

"See that it stays that way," she said mock sternly, and then got up to move around. She visited with every person on the bridge, learning what their purpose was, and in turn, learning more about operations on the bridge. Simulators only use Helm, Tactical, and Communications, so there were a lot of posts she didn't understand. By the time the shift-rotation started, she was exhausted, but settled herself back into the chair, ignoring the looks Pavel was sending her.

"Captain," Uhura said. "The only person on the ship I didn't get information about who to contact is you. When would you like to do so?" Her voice was still edged, but the respect was clear as well.

"I'll take it last," she said, rattling off a set of communicator coordinates. "She can wait for me that long, I think."

"Aye, ma'am." She turned away, but returned quickly. "Captain, shouldn't you be taking a break?"

"I can wait until Spock is done with whatever he's doing with the Elders and other guests," she said, waving a hand negligently.

"McCoy to Captain Kirk."

"Kirk here. What's up, Bones?"

"Captain Pike is asking for you," he replied, and she stood. Sulu and Pavel had both opted to stay on until things were more stable, so she left the conn with the pilot and made her way down to the room they had Pike in. Len was standing outside, waiting for her. "He's conscious, but still very weak. No exciting him, okay?"

"I got it, Len," she said, patting his rough cheek before going in. Pike was laying on the biobed, and she could tell he was unable to sit up. "Hey, sir," she said softly, settling into a seat next to the bed. "How you holding up?"

"Good. The ship?"

"It's not as bad as we thought," she started, smiling at his raised eyebrow. "It's still pretty bad, but it's fixable. Sorry, I broke your ship."

"Well, why did you do that when I told you not to?"

"You told Spock, not me. You told me to come get you, which I did. So anyway, we're about 5 days out, though Engineering says it'll be closer to 3 once they finish their preliminary repairs to the impulse engines."

"Good to know. Why are you Captain?"

"Spock was emotionally compromised," she said, carefully avoiding mention of Old Spock, and her promise to take command. I took over and got it done."

"And what about you and McCoy?" he asked, and she was confused.

"Sir?"

"I've known for months that the two of you were gonna get together sometime," he said, waving an arm carefully,

"Well, not sure what we are, but we're together, at least right now. I think." She was vaguely uncomfortable talking about this with Pike, but since he'd been her advisor for her time at the Academy, they often spoke personally.

"Well, good for you. You deserve goodness. How's your mom?"

"Not dead, according to Komack," she said bluntly. "I'll talk to her tomorrow." Pike laid his head back down.

"Okay. Keep me posted on ship's business, okay, Jem?" She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Will do, Chris. I'll let you rest." She left the room, and Pike was already asleep again. Len was waiting outside, and she followed him to an office that she guessed was his, at least temporarily.

"Jem," he said, as soon as the bulkhead closed. "Don't you scare me like that again, girl, you hear me?"

"I can't promise that Len, and you know it."She sat on the small couch, and he joined her. "So… What is going on?" As far as she knew, Len had sworn off women forever, and men too, for that matter. And yet in the last few days, he'd kissed her no less than 5 times. She was confused.

"Um… I don't know. I saw you in Sickbay, and it just hit me how close you had just come to dying, and I realized…"

"What, Len?" She pu an arm around him, concerned. He hugged her close.

"That we aren't just friends anymore. Maybe we never were. It's complicated."

"But what about whatsherface?" she asked, and then noticed that Len's ring, which had never left his finger, no matter how much he said he hated his ex-wife, was missing, leaving a deep tan-line on his finger.

"We talked a few weeks ago. She's getting married to Clay Treadway."

"Isn't that the asshole you beat down when you were in high school?" Sometimes, when she got him drunk enough, he would talk about home, how it was before everything went down the drain.

"Yeah. Guess I shoulda known back then, huh?"

"You wouldn't have Joanna, though, would you?" The girl had visited once, and she was really cute, for a 6 year old.

"No, Ah guess Ah wouldn't, at that." He sighed. "This is complicated."

"Sure is," she said. "Let's just… play it by ear?" He leaned against her and they sat in silence. Crises were weird for more reasons than the obvious, she finally decided. Yeah, there was the obvious problems, but then there were things like this; relationships that had been clearly defined beforehand, weren't any longer.

They were interrupted by an emergency in the Medbay less than 10 minutes later, but by that time she was already almost asleep, so she curled up on the sofa, since she had no quarters. She was woken a few hours later by Spock, who had come looking for her. He had a report for her and she decided to go to the Mess Hall before hearing it. Spock went with her, and joined her in eating some Shepherd's Pie, a vegan version that she'd managed to get introduced to the replicators within a year of joining Starfleet. Even Bones liked it when he ate it, which was saying something.

Spock decided to give the report while they ate, and she decided to humor him. Efficiency had been raised, bringing the estimated time of arrival closer to 2 days than the original estimate of 3. She was pleased, and said as much when she reached the bridge and called Scotty.

"Ach, well it was all to the talents of Ensign Chekov. He found the loop that needed to be done away with for maximum efficiency." Scotty was estatic, and Pavel had looked exhausted when they had passed in the corridors. She settled in for a relatively boring shift, all things considered. There was a flood on one of the decks, and 3 people in Engineering were injured in an electrical fire, but with everything that was wrong with the ship, all of that was pretty good, compared to what it could be.

After her shift, she went back to Bones' office and slept again, too tired to do anything else. When she woke up, Bones chivvied her into the fresher and got her an actual uniform, with a skirt, which while she was more used to it than the pants, made her feel self-conscious. It was all gold, and it annoyed her slightly, all the gaudy colors, but she accepted it. She sat down at a terminal in the rec room, and Uhura connected her to her mother, who looked haggard and pale.

"James told me he'd talked to you, Jemmy, but…."

"Mom, I'm fine."

"You look beautiful," Winona Kirk said, and Jim braced herself for tears, but none came. "You've finally come into your own. It looks good on you." Jim was confused.

"What? The dress?"

"No, honey. Responsibility. You wear it well." Bones walked in and waved at her.

"Hey, Mom, my time is being cut short. Let's make up that missed lunch, okay?" She actually _wanted_ to talk to her mother, which was a strange thing.

"Who is he? Or she?" her mom asked with a smirk, and she was suddenly reminded of why she fought with her so much.

"It's nothing like that. My CMO is telling me it's time to talk to Pike again."

"Is he okay?"

"He will be. I'll tell him you said hi?"

"Yes. And tell him I'll visit him as soon as is possible. Who's your CMO?"

"Bones. He inherited it from Dr. Puri."

"Oh, poor Rashna, I need to call her and offer my condolences. Tell Leonard I said hi and to take care of you, okay?"

"Okay, Mom. Gotta go. I'll call you when we hit planetside and finish debriefing."

"You do that."

"Kirk out," they said in unison, and she didn't realize it at the time, but her smirk matched her mother's exactly. She went over to Bones, who took her to the office bfore going to see Pike.

"How's she doing?"

"Better now that she's talked to me, I think. She said hi and for you to take care of me. Her words, not mine." He kissed her gently.

"How's that?"

"It's a start."

A/N: So Jem and Len can't figure out what to call each other, let alone what to do about a relationship with each other. And so the next chapter will have more Spock and Uhura in a casual setting, as well as maybe… (finally?) something between Jem and Len that is more than kissing and skirting around the issue.

/info dump

Additional Note: Even though I haven't gotten any reviews, something occurred to me that might end up being a question. Multiple times in this, I've brought up the fact that Jem is a pinch hitter, so to speak, or transsexual in all reality. She isn't picky, but to me, in the day and age of the 23rd century, no matter what setbacks were had from the Eugenics Wars (which have never come up), sexual orientation is not an issue… Not even Winona has a problem with it (obviously). This is just to let you know that she is in no way weird for her times, and if anything, those like Leonard, who have never experimented with other sexes or species, are considered the odd ducks.

/end info dump


End file.
